A real estate company is making a big splash with Google, Nest and Dwelo
It’s rare a good story starts with a real estate company, but hear us out. Alliance Residential (yes, a real estate company) has announced it’s going to partner up with Google, Nest and Dwelo for something it’s calling the “Alliance SmartHome” tech package.
This package will be put in more than 25,000 luxury apartments across 19 states and 33 metropolitan markets in the US. Every apartment will get a Google Home Mini, Nest Learning Thermostat, and a bunch of smart light switches, smart locks and wall outlets – with the Dwelo hub as the centerpiece.
Maybe you happen to be in the market for a luxury apartment, maybe you’re really, really not bothered, but this is an interesting move for the smart home market at large. Apartments are harder to “smarten” up, often due to property managers being reluctant to do so, and as such the smart apartment hasn’t had as much momentum as traditional homes.
Read this: How to build a smart home when you rent
It’s also another example of the increasingly available all-in-one type of deal as opposed to the a la carte approach. Our reporter Husain recently had Vivint completely kit out his home with one of its smart home packages, which are designed for people who want everything set up for them in one fell swoop.
“Home automation in single-family homes has been trending for years now — and our residents desire that same high-tech home system in an apartment,” said Jay Hiemenz, president of Alliance Resident Company, in a press release.
Alliance is a pretty big deal in the US, so this isn’t an insignificant move to be making. A reason it went with Dwelo is because it has a 24/7 support team for residents should anything go wrong, while Google and Nest support and upgrade their hardware for a long time.
